Packers Lose to Bears: Snaps, Stud, Dud, Defining Play

The Green Bay Packers’ 11-game winning streak against the Bears is over. Here is our weekly analysis of the snaps, plus a stud, dud and the pivotal play.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine (24) forces Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) to fumble the football during the fourth quarter on Sunday. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 24-22 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, meaning the Packers made history as an 11-6 playoff team.

Let’s dive into this week’s snap counts along with the stud, dud and defining play.

Packers Snaps on Offense

Out of 65

Quarterbacks: Jordan Love started and played the first 23 snaps before an elbow injury sent him to the sideline. While he warmed up a couple times, Malik Willis went the rest of the way with 43 snaps. If you noticed that 43 and 23 don’t add up to 65, that’s because Love played receiver for one snap on a Willis keeper.

Running backs: If there was one successful thing to come out of Sunday, it’s that workhorse running back Josh Jacobs played a season-low 20 snaps and had a season-low six rushing attempts and seven touches. So, he should be ready to rumble vs. the Eagles. Given the state of the passing game, maybe he should get the ball 40 times next week.

Emanuel Wilson took over as RB1 the rest of the way, he played 27 snaps and had a 21-yard touchdown run. Chris Brooks, who was banged up during the practice week, played 18.

Receivers: Romeo Doubs falling ill “had a lot to do with” Christian Watson playing through an injured left knee, coach Matt LaFleur said. On his 10th snap, Watson injured his right knee, an injury that almost certainly has ended his season and could keep him out until well into next season.

Dontayvion Wicks (48) and Jayden Reed (45) led the way from a snaps perspective but made minimal impacts. Wicks averaged 9.8 yards on his five catches and Reed had one big catch but also had a big fumble. Malik Heath, who had been a healthy scratch at times, played 39 snaps. Bo Melton wasn’t targeted in 26 snaps.

Tight ends: Had the Packers taken a comfortable lead, they almost certainly would have given Tucker Kraft a comfy seat by the heaters for the end of the game. Instead, he played 62 snaps. That’s twice as many as Luke Musgrave (17), Ben Sims (seven) and John FitzPatrick (five) combined.

Offensive line: The starting five went the distance. Rasheed Walker wound up leading the team with 1,075 snaps on offense this season, followed by Elgton Jenkins with 1,071 and Zach Tom with 1,070.

Packers Snaps on Defense

Out of 62

Defensive ends: Even with Brenton Cox inactive (foot), the coaches were able to keep the snap counts down on the defensive line. Kingsley Enagbare (35) and Arron Mosby (33) led the way. Rashan Gary played less than half the snaps (28) and Lukas Van Ness played 27.

Defensive tackles: Kenny Clark got to chill out on the bench for the second half until playing at the end of the game. The overall defensive line leader this season, he played 28 snaps. Devonte Wyatt led the way with 31. Karl Brooks played 27, Colby Wooden played 25 and T.J. Slaton made some impact plays with his 17.

Linebackers: With Quay Walker inactive again, rookie Edgerrin Cooper for the first time led the unit in snaps. He played 58. Eric Wilson, who played every snap on defense and played almost 100 including special teams last week, played 48 on defense and 19 on special teams on Sunday. Isaiah McDuffie played 28. Rookie Ty’Ron Hopper was limited to special teams. Rookie Michael Barrett, who was elevated from the practice squad, was the only player on the gameday roster who did not play.

Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine went the distance. Valentine had an interception each of the previous two games and forced a fumble vs. the Bears. Eric Stokes had been playing well even while not making any impact plays, but logged just five snaps (all in the fourth quarter). Corey Ballentine also played five snaps.

Safeties: The tightness of the game, paired with injuries to Evan Williams and Zayne Anderson, meant Xavier McKinney played every snap. He led the defense with 1,067 snaps this season. In the base defense, Javon Bullard lined up alongside McKinney. In nickel and dime situations, Bullard moved into the slot and rookie Kitan Oladapo played safety. So, Bullard played 59 snaps and Oladapo played 50. He had played 18 defensive snaps all season.

Stud: Keisean Nixon

Cornerback Keisean Nixon was second on the team with six tackles. On the first third down of the game, he made the play on a screen that gained 2 yards. On a third-and-6 in the second quarter, he made the play on a screen for a loss of 2. On a first down early in the fourth quarter, Nixon stopped a run for minus-2.

According to Pro Football Focus and its best analysis of coverage responsibilities, he gave up two catches for 7 yards.

An honorable mention goes to right guard Sean Rhyan, who might have played his best game of the season. He was spotless in pass protection and played with his usual power in the run game as the Packers piled up 183 rushing yards.

Dud: Matt LaFleur, Jeff Hafley, Rich Bisaccia

How can you call that fourth-quarter timeout? Was coach Matt LaFleur totally unaware that Brandon McManus made a 58-yard field goal during warmups, so the 55-yarder was well within range? Did nobody tell him? Or remind him? Did he choke in the moment?

It was Eberflusian clock management, and it cost the Packers dearly.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s unit played well until the “Defining Play” disaster outlined in a moment.

Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia’s unit got suckered by the Bears on their punt-return touchdown. The Bears might have mailed it in had they fallen behind 7-0. Instead, they led 7-0 so found plenty of reason to keep fighting.

So, the Packers will enter the playoffs with no momentum, no deep threat (if Christian Watson would have been inactive had Romeo Doubs not gotten sick, as LaFleur stated, then why play him at all?) and a “stagnant” passing game (in the words of Jordan Love).

Defining Play: D.J. Moore’s Last Catch

There were 15 seconds remaining when the Bears lined up on third-and-11 from their 49.

Time was of the essence.

“Typically, it’s 12 seconds. That’s usually what we go by,” coach Matt LaFleur said of the time needed to run a play, rush to the line of scrimmage and then clock the ball.

So, the Bears really had plenty of time when Caleb Williams lined up with three receivers to the right and D.J. Moore to the left. Moore’s 18-yard catch essentially won the game, though it’s more accurate to say that defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s call lost the game.

It's hard to believe this didn't work. pic.twitter.com/I8dVGyjSGE

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 6, 2025

By the time Moore made his break on the slant, three Packers defensive backs were more than 25 yards from the line of scrimmage and the middle of the field was wide open.

“You’ve just got play a different call,” LaFleur explained on Monday. “I have no problem playing the outside leverage. You just need a robber or a low-hole player at the line to gain because they put trips into the boundary and they’re trying to get the ball out of bounds if you allow them to, and that’s why you play severe outside leverage.

“C.V.’s playing outside leverage. We had three guys deep – too deep – and what did they get? An 18-yard gain right there and able to clock the ball. You talk about a game of inches, I mean it really was. Karl Brooks almost got another one, but they were a little bit too close.”

Valentine, who had a huge forced fumble against Moore moments earlier and then had the tackle on the preceding kickoff, gave up the catch, but don’t blame him. This was a Mission Impossible assignment against one of the best receivers in the NFL.

“I just did what I was told,” Valentine said. “Play outside leverage, try to keep him in the middle of the field, so the clock (could run). They didn’t have no timeouts. Just did what was asked of me.”

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At least the #Packers made NFL history yesterday. ⬇️https://t.co/cGLFpCp3gC

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 6, 2025

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